We weren’t about to take another Eurolines bus in Europe. Two times was more than enough. It was expensive, it would be fifteen hours, and we knew it would be ridiculously uncomfortable… So when Andrew found a ride on BlaBlaCar from just outside of Barcelona to Paris on the day we had planned to leave, we were elated with not only the timing, but the price it would be to share a ride! We got up around five to take three different trains to Granollers where we were supposed to meet our ride at eight for the twelve hour drive to Paris.
Halfway through the commute, we got lost trying to find our way from one metro station to the train station. We spent about fifteen minutes walking up and down a street looking for signs, asking for directions, and then waiting for the next train to Granollers. We were going to be late, but not by much, and I couldn’t imagine an arranged ride (from one country to another) leaving without us. We were paying 40 euros each for the ride! Who would leave without 80 euros of help towards gas? Unfortunately I couldn’t have been more wrong.
We ended up being roughly fifteen minutes late. We walked out of the train station and no one was there. We combed the parking lot. We looked through the taxi line. Andrew walked all over town until he found an open wifi network and tried to send our ride a message. Our ride, Noel G (if you use BlaBlaCar, avoid this guy) had left us a message. He couldn’t wait. (FIFTEEN MINUTES!) He left without us.
Andrew was upset. I was incredulous. Who would do that? Who would arrange a ride with strangers and then not be able to wait fifteen minutes when they were traveling two hours just to meet you for a ride? Why would someone like that even use BlaBlaCar?
We stood outside of the train station weighing our options. Then we lugged all of our bags further into town to stand outside of an apartment building to continue weighing our options on the open wifi network. We had a free place to stay the following evening in Paris- for three nights. If we waited until the next Eurolines bus left, we would have to cancel our hotel reservation for the night and we would probably be too late to meet up to get keys to our free three nights.
“Let’s just book a flight to Paris.” I said and started looking up flights out of Barcelona. Andrew booked our flight on his phone.
One more train ride, and an hour later, we were going through security at the airport. Before dusk, we were walking to our hotel wondering where in France Noel G might be and what time he would arrive to Paris.
Over take out pizza in bed (one of my guilty-I-kinda-wish-I-was-home pleasures) I told Andrew, “If he left after fifteen minutes, he probably would have dropped us off at the first metro stop he saw in Paris and then we would have had to spend another hour or two getting to our hotel!” I grimaced at the thought of our first (and probably last?) experience with BlaBlaCar.
